Reading 8 · a new beginning to another ivan · The One and Only Ivan

Copywork

I feel something tighten in my chest, something dark and hot. “And it’s not a domain,” I add. I pause, and then I say it. “It’s a cage.”

There I am: the One and Only Ivan, bathed in the pink light of dawn. I look so angry, with my furrowed brow and clenched fists. I look the way my father did, the day the men came.

In the first passage, Ivan feels something dark and hot. In the second, he looks the way his father did. Is this a new feeling for Ivan, or an old one?

For the educator Two passages. Passage one is four sentences from the end of “a bad dream”, when Ivan answers Ruby. Its opening sentence names a feeling and then names it again after a comma, more sharply (“something dark and hot”). The next is a line of speech with the speaker tag after it. The third joins two short actions with “and then”. The last is three words of speech standing alone. Passage two is three sentences from “another ivan”. Its opening sentence uses a colon to bring in the picture on the billboard. The next adds a describing phrase after a comma. The last compares Ivan to his father and sets the time after a comma. The vocabulary words “domain” and “furrowed” come from these passages. The talk prompt sets the two passages side by side; the fourth discussion question returns to passage one, and the last written question to passage two.

Discussion

Narration Tell this reading back in order. Start with Mack coming back after two days. End with Ivan looking at the red paint on his fingers in the morning.

In the ring, Ivan tells Ruby to do what Mack says. When she fights back, he loves her angry noise. Was he wrong the first time? Character
George says “Poor Mack” to Julia without a smile. Then he turns away and laughs. Which one is the real George? Character
Look at the red paint in two places: Ivan’s first handprint, and his fingers at the very end. Does it mean the same thing both times? Author's choice
Ruby asks if she will die in this domain someday. Ivan stops calling it a domain. He calls it a cage. Who needed to hear that more, Ruby or Ivan? Character
Ivan tells Ruby his zoo story is “True,” and then he adds, “I hope.” Can a story be true before it has happened? Theme

Make a Connection Think of a time, in a story or in your own life, when someone stopped calling something by a nice name and called it what it really was. What changed after that?

Vocabulary

domain: “And it’s not a domain,” I add. A place someone owns and rules over.
amends: A zoo, Ruby, is a place where humans make amends. Things done to make up for a wrong.
anxious: Mack says he is anxious to teach Ruby some tricks. Eager and impatient to get started.
exhausted: “She’s exhausted,” I say to myself. So tired that no strength is left.
frantic: “Stop! No!” Ruby’s frantic cries startle me. Wild with fear or worry.
solemnly: “Yes,” he says solemnly. In a serious way, without a smile.
scornful: Bob gives a scornful laugh. Showing that someone deserves no respect.
furrowed: I look so angry, with my furrowed brow and clenched fists. Wrinkled into deep lines, as when someone frowns.

Critical thinking

Mack says he won’t hurt Ruby, and the claw-stick only touches her. That night, Ruby has a bad dream about a sharp stick that hurt. Did Mack hurt her?
In Ivan’s story, a zoo is a place where humans make amends. Can humans ever make amends for what they did to Ivan’s family?
Inside Ivan, hidden, is “another Ivan.” He is the angry Ivan on the billboard, and he “could taste revenge.” Is that Ivan a danger, or is he what Ruby needs?